I am feeling much better now

[elsiepretoria1]

Hi all

I have not posted for a while.

My IBS has calmed down a lot recently.

I have been following FODMAP diet, but also gradually eating some other foods as well.

I know basically what I can and can't eat.

I have also,gained three pounds in weight, not much but a bit .

i am having Physio for, my Arthritis in my spine,,with a possible move,to,Pilates.

I can't say that I am 100% well! as I do get the odd symptom, but nothing like I have

had.

How long this will last I do not know.

Christmas is coming which might prove difficult.

However I will cross that bridge when I get to,it.

[Hidden]

Hey, it's great news to know you're feeling better and have gained a bit more weight. I always feel so pleased when somebody posts positive results, it gives us all a lift.

I too have had great results with FODs although, over time, I've found a few supposedly 'safe' foods that don't do me any good at all - rice (and its derivatives) being one, it serves me worse than wheat and co. Like you, though, I've been able to reintroduce some high FODS quite successfully. It takes ages to sort all this out, but you do get there in the end.

I have spinal problems too (including arthritis) and I really do think that they're the root cause of the IBS as both issues occurred almost simultaneously.

Yep, Christmas is always a tricky one and I usually fall off the wagon a few times then, but at least I know how to get myself back on it!

I wish you well and hope things continue to get better for you.

Rosie

[Hidden]

Well done

Just remember how bad you used to feel when ill and keep that in your mind over Christmas as it's not a good time to feel rotten

Went to our son's last Xmas and ate too many chestnuts, another love of mine, and was up and down to the toilet nearly all Xmas evening - so it will be onky half a dozen for me this year if he does them again

[nobiker]

Hello all, so glad to hear that things are going pretty well for lots of us.

I have been following FoDMaP for about 8 weeks. My d problem - which I had had for years although as an embarrassing inconvenience rather than a problem, is much improved, but I still get some pain although not as bad as it was.

My GP prescribed mebeverine, which made the pain a lot worse!! Apart from that I don't use any medication. The problem has "calmed down" to the extent that I am starting to live my life with the condition rather than fighting it. I don't kid myself that it's completely sorted and touch wood every day.

I have been doing this on my own, without a dietician, and am very nervous indeed of reintroducing food groups. Any advice will b helpful, how long did you wait, had ALL your symptoms gone before you tried reintroduction, and which groups did you start with?

All advice will be most welcome, and many apologies for such a long ramble.....x

Nobiker

[Hidden in reply to nobiker]

Hi,

My experience was, that trying to reintroduce groups as a whole wasn't the answer as I found I could eat some foods in a group and not others - the reverse being that some low FODs don't suit me either, rice, for instance, is one of my major triggers.

My best advice would be to take it very easy and introduce one food item at a time and wait for 48 hours to see what the effects are. I still had some symptoms when I started this phase, mainly because it took me ages to twig that rice was such an issue (I'm far from being alone in this).

I was a bit nervous about reintroduction as well, but if you do get a problem, at least you know how to stop it again. I launched into it about 10 weeks after starting FODs and feeling I'd regained 80% control. 3.5 years on, I've just about got all the anomalies sorted and I now have almost 100% control - if I don't fall off the wagon that is!

Hope this helps,

Rosie

[nobiker]

Hi Rosie, thanks so much for that - I think the message may be that I could be trying to run before I can walk. Actually, the fact that it has taken you so long to sort it is a kind of comfort-I keep thinking that there has to be something quite seriously wrong when so many people seem to talk about the initial phase of the FODMAP diet only lasting a relatively short time before re introducing things.

Today has been a perfect flipping nightmare - that awful pain below my left rib and into my back has been almost relentless and it was my own fault for skipping a meal and going out unprepared.......It REALLY is so true that ibs doesn't like an empty stomach. I also took a risk and ate something a small amount of lettuce yesterday for the first time in ages. I suspected I had become intolerant and I think I proved it.

I'm almost certainly not ready yet. My GP seems quite happy with the way things are going and most of the time I'm getting on with my life and trying to put discomfort on the back burner. Since my ibs is stress related it seems the best way forward for me.

Thank you to everyone on this site for all your support. X

Nobiker